For answers, check out our Five Year State Plan Overview. Here is a sneak peak of the contents:

Every five years the Council develops a State Plan to guide and focus our work, after gaining input from people with developmental disabilities and their family members, advocacy organizations, services providers, legislators and state officials, as well as extensive research and analysis.

Over-arching strategies in our FY2017-2021 State Plan* can be summed up as:

1. Supporting self-advocacy and leadership development;
2. Educating and informing people with developmental disabilities, their families, legislators, and other stakeholders;
3. Raising expectations of families, schools, workplaces and the community at large;
4. Advocating for the creation or improvement of policies, programs, services, and laws;
5. Helping organizations develop skills needed to support people with developmental disabilities to live, learn, work and play alongside people without disabilities; and
6. Increasing access to services and supports.

The full State Plan is lengthy and includes, among other things, a comprehensive review and analysis useful to anyone interested in the current status of major service systems and issues in Maryland that impact people with developmental disabilities and their families. This “state of the state” informed the goals and objectives in our State Plan.